{"id":1287,"date":"2020-10-07T18:48:02","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T22:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sallybsedgwick.com\/conversation\/?p=1287"},"modified":"2020-10-07T23:27:28","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T03:27:28","slug":"so-what-do-we-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/so-what-do-we-do\/","title":{"rendered":"So, what do we do?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So, what do<\/em> we do?

\"\"In the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic (late 2020), people seem to be spending most of their time stressing out about the world\u2019s\u2014and their neighbor\u2019s\u2014response to the disease, feeling despair and depression at being socially isolated, and lamenting the current political situation. Is this you? Any of it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s something about complaining that scratches the itch, so to speak. We\u2019re told not to complain, but I know that often when I complain about something, for instance that I can\u2019t find something, it often shows up, usually where I\u2019d just looked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What bothers me about how we share our stress regarding the world right now is that all this energy, and yes it is energy, feeds negativity. Complaints about the world don\u2019t resolve the same way they do when I lose something. These complaints actually expand the very negativity that is the basis for the lament. Sharing the stress doesn\u2019t end with despair; it is fed by the despair. So, the brilliant put-down, the sharing of heartfelt hopelessness and emptiness, the latest study on how our Internet and other interactions are harmful feed this fear and induce and increase the depression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isolation and physical distance have all become justifications for inaction. The extent of this inaction, which has become fairly pervasive, is so unfamiliar that it is perceived as threatening and, so, manifest as fear. Added to the inaction are the fear of death (from the disease) and helplessness. Remember, inaction (freezing) and fleeing (how many of you in the United States are considering moving elsewhere?) are responses to fear. Other fear responses are fainting (avoidance) and fighting, which looks like action for those of you with political leanings, but also shows up as people ignoring distancing guidelines and political realities or reading every news article, whether verified or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you focus on expands. That may be a truism, but notice how much power we give away in all the above actions. There\u2019s got to be another choice  between doing too much and not doing anything at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where are the things we can do that might, just might, be positive? Instead of fighting, what might heal and build? What might seed positivity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Header<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"SpiritRemember when you discovered Spirit Moxie? I am assuming you at least liked the Facebook page<\/a>. In case you didn\u2019t get this Conversation post in your email, I’m adding a link to sign up <\/a>so you won\u2019t miss the next one! Remember that little nod when you admitted that you wanted the world to be slightly better? When there was a glimmer and a smile at the suggestion that maybe, just maybe, our small actions could morph into energy that could change the world? (Refresher course 101 on this idea if you don\u2019t quite understand this – opening piece at www.spiritmoxie.com<\/a>.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in isolation, the world is still here. We still have family and friends and dreams. We can<\/em> still change the world. Really. But if the accepted default is that of inaction, if we always do what we\u2019ve always done, we will indeed keep getting what we have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, play with this. Literally. What can you do that\u2019s new? What can you learn? The other day I figured out a new pattern for making my bed. Really. I\u2019m still excited. Just the energy of claiming something new or different changes things around me. Acknowledge that you are \u201cdoing:\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smile <\/a>– even when wearing a mask<\/a>. A smile shows in your eyes! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reach out to others. Have you figured out how to connect via electronics? Have you walked someone else through how to connect? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What have you created? Art. An idea. A recipe. A new way to do what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you shared your visions and your dreams?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you try? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you turned off your news feed or at least limited it? Trust me, you\u2019ll learn what you need to learn. How can you<\/em> stop giving violent and negative actions power while still holding those responsible accountable? Yes, the whole point is that what you<\/em> do matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have an answer to at least some of this. I\u2019m guessing you, personally, are not called to curing this disease or running for public office. But small answers really can morph into a positive whole, even when that makes no sense at all. So, try a new form of pickles. Or whatever. Tiny little things still hold us together and whirl us into the future of our dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And share. Share in the comments. On social media. In, gasp, conversation. Remember: \u201clittle things we do together.<\/em>\u201d There\u2019s work to do if we dare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

____________________________________

Images from the top:

Sidewalk challenge \u2014 Spirit Moxie
Website banner \u2014 www.spritmoxie.com
<\/a>From Spirit Moxie Facebook<\/a> banner \u2014 Michael Phillips<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, what do we do? In the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic (late 2020), people seem to be spending most of their time stressing out about the world\u2019s\u2014and their neighbor\u2019s\u2014response to the disease, feeling despair and depression at being socially … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[23,29],"class_list":["post-1287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asides","tag-covid-19","tag-negativity"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DJHl-kL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1287"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1305,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287\/revisions\/1305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spiritmoxie.com\/conversation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}